Laelian

Template:Short description Template:Infobox royalty Template:Campaignbox Crisis of the Third Century Laelian (Template:IPAc-en; Template:Langx),<ref name="Martindale, pg. 492">Martindale, pg. 492</ref> also incorrectly referred to as Lollianus and Aelianus,<ref name="Polfer, Laelianus">Polfer, Laelianus</ref> was a usurper against Postumus, the emperor of the Gallic Empire. His revolt lasted from approximately late February to early June 269.<ref name="Polfer, Laelianus">Polfer, Laelianus</ref>

Origins

Little is known about Laelian. He shares the same nomen as a prominent Hispano-Roman family, the Ulpii, that included Trajan among its members, and may have been a relative.<ref name="Polfer, Laelianus">Polfer, Laelianus</ref> This is supported by the strong allusion to Hispania on an aureus he struck, which featured the design of Hispania reclining with a rabbit to her side. If he indeed was a relative, this may be the reason Hispania allied itself with Claudius II, after the death of Laelian, seemingly without a struggle.Template:Citation needed

Rule

Laelian declared himself emperor at Moguntiacum (modern-day Mainz in Germany) in February/March 269,<ref>Polfer, Laelianus; Potter, pg. 265</ref> after repulsing a Germanic invasion.<ref>Polfer, Laelianus</ref> Although his exact position is unknown, he is believed to have been a senior officer under Postumus,<ref>Potter, pg. 265</ref> either the legatus of Germania Superior or the commander of Legio XXII Primigenia.<ref name="Polfer, Laelianus">Polfer, Laelianus</ref> Laelian represented a strong danger to Postumus because of the two legions he commanded (Primigenia in Moguntiacum and VIII Augusta in Argentoratum);<ref name="Polfer, Laelianus">Polfer, Laelianus</ref> Despite this, his rebellion lasted only about two months before he was executed,<ref>Polfer, Laelianus</ref> reputedly by his own soldiers, or by Postumus' troops after a siege of Laelian's capital.<ref name="Martindale, pg. 492">Martindale, pg. 492</ref> The siege of Moguntiacum was also fatal for Postumus; it is said he was slain when he refused to allow his troops to plunder the city following its capture.<ref>Southern, pg. 118</ref>

Laelian (under the Latin name Lollianus) is listed among the Thirty Tyrants in the Historia Augusta.

See also

• Ulpia gens
• List of Roman usurpers

Sources

Primary sources

• Aurelius Victor, Liber de Caesaribus
• Eutropius, Brevarium, Book 9
• Historia Augusta, The Thirty Tyrants

Secondary sources

• Southern, Pat. The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine, Routledge, 2001
• Potter, David Stone, The Roman Empire at Bay, AD 180-395, Routledge, 2004
• Jones, A.H.M., Martindale, J.R. The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. I: AD260-395, Cambridge University Press, 1971
• Michel Polfer, "Laelianus (A.D. 269)", De Imperatoribus Romanis] (1999)

External links

• Template:Commons-inline